A Little Angel
by PepperminPatti
Summary: When on a misson to a fake HYDRA base, Steve Rogers finds a 2 and a half year old girl. The next day, he discovers that she is the desendant of Johann Schmidt, and a certian former assassin. What else was Steve to do but adopt her? Helped writen in part by my 9 year old brother
1. Battle of the Base

_Hello everybody! Thank you all so much for reading my fic!! I just want to let you all know that I am VERY new to marvel, so please excuse me if I massively mess up some of the characters or anything else. I also wanted to let you guys know that this takes place a few weeks after Captain America Winter Soldier, and before Age of Ultron. Thank you so much for putting up with me I hope you enjoy!_

Steve Rogers could tell that something was off when he arrived before the fake HYDRA base in rural northen Texas. It was a large, black and gray concrete factory, with all the windows blacked out. surrounding it was only amber dessert, a blazing sun, a few cacti, and the occasional bird. It was 10 miles from the nearest town and looked abandoned from the outside. In fact, the only thing that let Steve know that the A, wasn't hallucinating the factory, and B, this was the right place, was the giant red HYDRA logo painted on the front, standing out from the old, grey bricks.

That morning, Nick Fury had called him and told him that "there was a slight threat that he needed to deal with." And After looking through some files on the flight over, Steve got a better idea of what was going on. A small group of people in northern Texas apparently were blurring the lines between Neo Nazi, Cultists, and mental patients, who loved HYDRA. They weren't an actual part of HYDRA, and up until now, they had mostly kept to themselves, not causing any real trouble. They only left the factory that they used as a base to buy food and supplies once a month. However, 3 days ago, one of the members of the fake HYDRA shot the cashier in the grocery store, and the other 5 members who went with him stole the contents of the store.

Nothing technically strange about the situation, but something about it was rubbing Steve the wrong way, not that he could tell what. There were 15 people in this group tops, and he had a team of 2 other shield agents. Natasha had come along too, despite Fury saying that "this isn't a big enough of a job for 2 Avengers." She had replied with. "Too bad, I'm going anyway" That was just the way Nat was, and Steve wouldn't change it for the world. Although letting Natasha go with him meant that he had to give up the two other agents in his crew, but he didn't really mind. Natasha as worth 30 agents and everyone knew it. Their mission was to go into the base, capture the members of this fake Hydra, get them on transports for questioning. after everyone was out of the building, go back in and make sure they didn't have any actual connection to HYDRA or have anything else dangerous inside.

"This place looks fun" Natasha commented, popping a bubble gum bubble in his ear, hugging into him while riding on his motorcycle. The S.H.I.E.L.D plane had dropped them about 5 miles out, so they could have the element of surprise.

"And we're going inside" Steve nonchalantly replied. Not that he didn't enjoy her playful banter, it was just that there was a job they needed to get done.

"Well, I hope so." Nat joked back.

A brief smile crossed Steve's face before he went back to his focus mode. "The plan strictly capture and retrieve." He commanded, pulling up the base. "There's no cover out here, so when we pull up we go in whatever entrance we can. Your job is to get all the members in one spot so we can load them on the transports."

"And what's your job, Mr.In charge?" She bantered back

"I'm going after the leader" He divulged. "Ready to go?"

"Yep" Nat grinned, and Steve drove to the front entrance.

He braced himself a huge wave of bullets, but they never came.

"Are you sure you have the right address?" Natasha commented.

"See any other abandoned Factories with the HYDRA logo painted on it?" Steve groaned, gritting his teeth.

"I'm just saying, no one seems to be home." She continued.

"Let's go in." Steve decided, parking his bike next to the front door.

"I'll take a window" Natasha volunteered, and started scaling the building.

Steve cracked his neck and pushed open the door. He was greeted with a long, tall hallway. The only light source was the door behind him, and it wasn't nearly enough to see by. He gingerly turned on his flashlight, and carefully wandered through the hallway, shield at the ready. The hallway seemed as abandoned as the outside of the factory. The walls still had old schedules, company bulletins, and black and white pictures of the past employees and their families. The only notice of Hydra was on the floor right was he walked in. Someone had written "HAIL HYDRA" in giant red spray paint, giving t the appearance of blood.

After about 3 minutes, Steve was finally alerted to the fact that somebody actually lived here. He had just been checking out the hallway, when out of nowhere, the hallway lights flickered on, and a woman jumped from the rafters of the ceiling, knocking him over

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed, out of pure shock, trying to get a good look at her. Form what he could tell, she had waist length blonde hair, that was hanging loosely down her back. She had a pretty strong build, and a tall frame, in fact, she came up to his chin. He could see that she had on tight, black yoga pants, and a matching tight black shirt with the red HYDRA logo on the shoulders and chest.

He didn't have much time to look though, because she immediately punched him in the jaw. He stumbled back, still a little surprised from having her fall on his face, but when he saw her gearing up for her next blow, he held up his shield, and as she punched, he shoved her back.

The fight went on for some time, and her fighting style Steve could only describe as schizophrenic. One second she was jumping around him, throwing small, extremely quick punches, in attempts to confuse can capture him. The next second, she seemed to be trying to leap in the air and kick him unconscious in the face with her black leather snow boots. But whenever he blocked her with his shield, she glanced back behind her and then tries to force him back, out the way he came, with a force he had only seen a few times before.

It finally ended when Natasha came out of a door at the end of the hallway, from the direction the strange woman had been looking. Nat took one glance at her, puller but her tranquilizer gun, and shot the woman, leaving her unconscious.

"I had her on the ropes" Steve started before Natasha had time for a witty remark.

"Sure you did" She sarcastically grinned, and put the woman on top of a pile containing about 10 other bodies, all who were on top of a cart looking thing.

"You know we were supposed to take them alive, right?" Cap groaned. "Or is this another one of your 'side missions'?"

"Calm down Rogers." Natasha suggested, "It's just easier to get them here if they're unconscious"

"Fine" he sighed. "I'm going to inspect the rest of the base, you call the transport truck."

"Already on it." She grinned and pushed the cart of bodies outside.

"Was that everyone?" Steve questioned, as she was leaving.

"Yes." She answered, clearly ready to get out and get home. Not that Steve blamed her, the factory was extremely hot inside.

"I'm going to take a look around." He announced, heading to the door that Nat had come out of and that the woman had kept glancing at.

"If you really feel the need" Nat sighed, "But if you get eaten alive I'm not going in after you"

"Very funny" He chuckled, and walked through, although a tiny part of him was concurred or a minute there was something out there that wanted to eat him.

The rest of the 3 story factory was somehow even creepier than the front hallway. From what Steve could tell, they only used the first floor of the factory. There was only one flight of stairs that hadn't had its door sealed shut, and the one flight of stairs was open had been blown up after the second floor.

The few industrial lights that still worked flickered on and off, making the hallway either brighter than the surface of the sun or pitch black, with no in between or any system.

Most of the rooms were empty, but there was a few bedrooms, a few offices, and a meeting room. All the rooms he had gone inside had 2 distinct patterns. First. They each had a large HYDRA logo painted in spray paint on the wall. Second, all the furniture in each room was tossed around or completely broken, rendering any evidence form the rooms useless. Natasha wasn't that messy, so Seeing that the members of the fake HYDRA put up such a fight made Steve feel a bit better and more suspicious. Better, because Nat had an actual reason to knock them all unconscious, and it confirmed his mee found hunch that the members were hiding something big.

The first and only room that seemed to break these patterns was the Medical exam room. It was immaculately put together, perfectly clean, and everything seemed organized. Steve started to poke around when the beam of his flashlight caught on to a needle. It wasn't the fact that it was needle and syringe was empty that shocked him, but the size of it. It fits in the palm of his hand and would have been too small even for him before he was given the serum.

He investigated a bit further, and actually kicked a small wooden box, that went up to his knees. The box caught his attention even more than the tiny syringe, the factory, or even the woman who came from the ceiling, mainly because it squeaked.

It was a loud, high pitched squeak, that wasn't soft enough to be a mouse, but too organic to be a recording in order to scare him. He cautiously kneeled down and pulled the box out from under the counter.

The box wasn't heavy, but it definitely had something good sized inside of it. Whatever was in the box whimpered, and Steve could make out the fear in its voice and could feel it move in the box.

He took a deep breath and removed the top of the box, only to nearly drop it in shock.

Inside the box was a tiny, curled up, shaking, little girl.


	2. Discovery

The little girl was curled up into a tight ball, shaking and whimpering. Just from a rough estimation, she couldn't be more than three feet tall, and her pale face had only ever seen the inconsistent lights of the factory. Her platinum blonde stick-straight hair reached halfway down her back, and covered her face, preventing Steve from getting a good look at her. She was wearing a small version of the yoga pants and long-sleeve t-shirt look that the other woman had worn, and in her ghost-white hands was a small square of gray fabric, with scattered white dots and lines on it. She was extremely young, younger than any child Steve had ever seen on a mission.

Well, Steve had never seen any child on a mission, not like this. Usually, the kids that came up to him when he was in costume was after missions were completed, all smiling and giggling and extremely excited to see him. In fact, once he had even worn his Captain America uniform to a special charity event for a children's hospital, and then the kids were jumping up and down and screaming out of excitement, not shaking and crying out of pure fear.

"Uu, hey" Steve greeted a bit flabbergasted. It quickly dawned on him that seeing a giant with a blue mask on his face probably would freak this little girl out, even more, so he threw off his mask and kneeled down so that he could be as friendly as possible.

In response, she let out a loud squeak and curled even tighter.

"It's ok." He smiled, making his voice quiet. "I-i-i can be your friend if you want."

"Friend?" She finally whined. Her voice was extremely high pitched yet it had this melody to it, like the song of a small bird who was waking up on the morning.

"Yes, a friend." He smiled, reaching out his hand. "My name is steve rogers, what's your name?"

The little girl sat straight up in the box, still holding the piece of fabric extremely tightly. Now that cap could have a better look at her, it took a lot of effort not to gasp. Not only was she so short that her head didn't even come out of the box, but she was skinny. Extremely skinny. Like, him pre-serum skinny. She was covered in a blanket of dirt, so thick that her tears had left streaks of clean on her pale face, revealing small, red cheeks. Her eyes, however, were a deep oceanic blue, so deep that he originally thought they were brown. He had only seen those eyes once before, and suddenly, his brain out all the pieces of the puzzle together. It explained why the people in the base were so obsessed with Hydra, why they were so secretive, why they had gone so far to protect her, and why the needle in the exam room was too small. This tiny, little girl had the exact same eyes as Johann Schmidt. She had to be a descendant of him, she must have super soldier her in her veins. But just at first glance, she looked too skinny to be so. Steve had to get her out of here, he had to get her out now.

"Hydra" she softly answered. Of course, her name was Hydra.

"Well, Hydra, I need you to come out of the box now," Steve instructed in the nicest voice possible. All he had to do was get out of the box out of the factory, and on the plane back to New York, how hard could that be?

However, his perfect plan was thwarted by a simple head shake. "Mama said say here." She divulged.

Steve internally sighed a bit. Of course, that crazy lady was the girl's mother. "Well, umm, your mother had to leave the factory, so we do too." He tried to reason, figuring that telling her that her mother had been shot with a tranquilizer gun, thrown on top of a pile of other unconscious bodies, and forced into a truck was a bad idea.

"NO!" Hydra shrieked, and more tears streamed out of her eyes. "NO LEAVE NO LEAVE!"

"I'm sorry Hydra but we need to go," Steve repeated, frazzled, not exactly sure what to do next. "Do you want help getting out of the box?"

"NO!" she yelled again. " MAMA SAID STAY HERE!"

"I'm really sorry hydra." Steve sighed and went to pick her up. Surpassing, even though the box was small, she was able to evade his grasp for a solid minute, before he picked her up.

When he finally did get the tiny girl in his arms, she pulled out every trick in the book. Thrashing around, trying to slide out his arms like goo, going limp in the most dramatic way possible and all around trying to make him go deaf with all her screaming.

"Hey, Steve-" Nat called, over his communicator, but Hydra's screams making it impossible to understand. Thankfully, the little beep embed to make her go quietly with curiosity

"Huh?" Steve asked

"What's that?" little Hydra chirped, looking at his ear, reaching for his earpiece.

"Sorry, I need to keep that in!" He explained and twisted away

"Steve, what the hell did you do?" Natasha sighed, in an accusatory tone,

"I'll meet you outside the front door!" Steve commanded and turned back to Hydra. "That was my friend Natasha." He explained.

"Where is she?" hydra inquired, turning her head all around as Steve walked back into the hallway where who he assumed was the Girl's mother attacked him from the ceiling."Oh, she's not here right now, I was talking to her through a special earpiece." He tried to tell her, but he could hear the confused look on her face like a map.

"What's that?" she inquired further.

"An earpiece is something that clips onto my ear that I can use to talk to people who are far away," he told her. Now that she had decided that escaping from his grasp wasn't something she felt like doing, she made the mistake of looking down. The floor was pretty far away for someone of her height, so she lightly cuddled into him, looking for protection. Steve rearranged his grip, holding her legs and almost allowing her to sit on his arm. With his other arm, he held her back and waist, incoming her so she could feel more secure.

"Why?" She asked again, but before Steve could reply, she froze and squeezed her eyes shut. "NO!" She decided

"Hydra we need to go." He announced, but she threw her arms out in order to stop him.

"Mama said no outside!" She confessed and buried her face into Cap's chest.

"I know she did," Steve acknowledged, not really knowing but learning very quickly that little white lies weren't the worst method of child negations. "But right now we don't really have a choice, ok?"

"Ok." Hydra sighed, and snuggled into Steve, shutting her eyes almost as tight as her hands gripped the piece of fabric.

Steve finally walked out of the factory, and he saw Natasha, waiting in front of the small quinjet that was going to take them home. Behind her was an elegant sunset, with hues of pumpkin and gold and crimson all blended into one, breath-taking celestial special. Natasha, however, took one look at him, and little Hydra and shook her head with an eye roll and sigh.


	3. Battle of Evacution

"What was that for?" Steve questioned, in an accusatory tone. At the same time, little Hydra squeezed her eyes shut, stuck her face in Steve's chest, and clung onto him like a koala.

"Steve you are the only person who could find a kid in the middle of an abandoned factory." She sighed, half already done with this situation, half trying to hide her shock.

"You've never found a kid on a mission?" He retorted, his feet slightly sinking into the amber sand, creating a valley of footsteps as he walked to the humming quinjet.

"No, actually, I haven't," Nat admitted, before sighing, turning away from Steve, and strolled up the ramp.

"Do you have any ideas about what the protocol is if there even is one?" Steve asked, following her lead.

"Well, I'd assume that we could find out if she really is related to someone in this sudo-hydra cult, and if she had anything that we need, and once that's done, hand her over to the state and let them deal with it." Natasha sighed, going straight to the pilot seat. "And when I say we I mean not me" she called, grinning.

"Very funny" He sarcastically chuckled and walked over to one of the air-conditioned benches. To him, being in the brisk air was at first refreshing, a glorious release from the heat of the desert and the factory. On the other hand, though, the chill currents made his hair stand on end, remembering the last time he was in extremely cold temperatures. He had lost everything that day, yes he had saved the world, but he lost bucky, his only family, Peggy, and his comprehension of the world around him. How, after all that, could he possibly like the cold?

Hydra seemed to like the cold even less than Steve. Within 2 seconds of entering the quinjet, she started shivering. Her shivers began in small bursts, like a bird ruffling its feathers. Quickly, however, it progressed into her entire body even more curled up than before, furiously shaking, with her teeth writing a symphony.

"Do we have a blanket or anything on here?" Steve quickly inquired, moving his arms and adjusting her once more. Now she as sitting sideways on his lap, her tiny feet barely dangling off of his right leg. He put his arms around her like a hug, trying to cover as much surface area on her as possible, in a futile attempt to keep her warm.

"Unless you want to try the paper towels in the bathroom, then the answer would be no." Natasha plainly responded, taking the quinjet into the air.

Steve was about to ask if in that case could she turn on the air conditioning, but thrust into the air caused little Hydra to scream as if she was being murdered.

"Hey, it's ok!" Steve frantically tried to comfort, rubbing her back with his hand. It dawned on him that if she had never left the factory before then this was Probably her first time ever on something that moved.

"NOOOO!" she screamed, burrowing into Steve's uniform.

"It's only for a little bit!" He replied, and quickly tried to figure out what to do. Every so often, little kids would see him and get scared of his height and build, but usually, the parents were there, and they would something pick up their kids and hug them to make them better.

"OUCHY!" she shrieked, and Steve immediately loosened his grip on her, a horrible slime like feeling rushing through his body. He had only hugged her a tiny bit tighter than he had the entire time, but it was too far. He never wanted to hurt her, yet he had, so he let go with one arm, and loosened the grip of the remaining one.

"STEVE!" Nat snapped, spinning her neck around. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you get your kid under control!"

"I'm trying!" he acknowledged, trying to rise above the volume of Hydra's cries. They were gigantic sobs, each shriek letting out a waterfall of tears that left giant blobs of clean on her face. He could barely see her face, however, because she kept trashing her head around every which way.

"NO LET GO!" she cried, and grappled onto Steve's uniform with one hand, and covering the side of her head with the piece of cloth.

"Ok, ok, I won't let go." He promised and went back to hugging her, but it didn't stop her sobs. "Hey, what's wrong?" Steve requested.

"EARS!" she sobbed, and her strange head motions made sense now. Steve had gotten used to the strange popping that happened in his ears over 70 years ago in the army.

Steve rapidly slid his arms around, covering her ears. He knew it wouldn't really help the problem, but maybe it would make her feel better.

"Is that better?" He hopefully inquired.

"A little." She whimpered, snuggling into Steve, her sobs regressing to sniffles with a side of occasional tears."It's c-c-c-cold." She pointed out.

"I know it's cold, and trust me, the ride will be over before you know it," Steve promised her. "Hey Nat, what's our ETA?"

"Well since you've somewhat calmed down the shirking banshee, I'll tell you." She bantered, grinning. "3 more hours to Avengers tower."

"Can we turn off the air conditioning?" He requested.

"Don't want to turn into another capsical?" She sarcastically smiled.

"It's more this girl I'm worried about." He sighed. Yes, he knew her name was Hydra, and even though she couldn't control what her parents had named her, it made Steve's skin crawl even thinking that someone name their child after that."She shaking and I don't think she's ever been in cold temperatures before."

"What's the magic word?" Nat joking interrogated.

"Just turn off the damn AC Natasha!" He exclaimed.

"All I was looking for was a please." Nat reasoned, before switching the AC off. "And it wasn't that cold."

"Thank you, Natasha." He smiled. "Are you still cold?" He asked the little girl.

She shook her head, looked up into his eyes, and her mouth morphed into the tiniest of smiles.


	4. Name

3 and a half hours later, the Quinjet gracefully flew into the neon skyline of New York City. The sun was beginning to set as they left Texas, so as they weaved throughout the buildings of Midtown Manhattan, the skyscrapers and streets were lit up like fireworks against the midnight sky. Little Hydra had not enjoyed the ride up until now, but thankfully the electricity of the city had her full, undivided attention. Throughout the ride, whenever Natasha had changed altitude, turned, or when they had hit turbulence, Hydra was sent into a frenzy of screams and tears. However, after the third time it happened, Steve came up with a plan. All he had to do was distract her, and she wouldn't cry. Of course, all he could do was talk to her, but that had turned out absolutely adorable.

So far he learned that she was 2 years old, she didn't know much about HYDRA, (in fact, she couldn't understand that he meant the organization, not her), she knew how to count to 13, her mother had taught her the HYDRA slogan and salute (Steve declined her offer to demonstrate), and the little piece of cloth she had been clutching since he met was named Fuzzy.

She had also asked him a fair amount of questions. She had actually started the first conversation on the Quinjet, by pointing out that he had a Star on his shirt. She had also asked him how old he was (95), how high he could count to (he got to 72 before she announcing that he could count forever), who his pretty friend was (Natasha responded for him by introducing herself)and if he had any fuzzies (he told her that her "fuzzy" was one of a kind and that he didn't have anything like it). Her inquisitive nature made him smile, and her face lit up every time she got an answer.

"Look at the big building!" Hydra exclaimed, pointing out the window at the Chrysler building, nearly falling out of Steve's lap in excitement.

"That's called the Chrysler building." He told her. "You know, I remember when it was built."

"It's so big!" Hydra echoed, mesmerized, and held her "fuzzy" up to the window as well.

"Do you see that one?" Steve pointed out, guiding her gaze with his finger. "The one with the big A on it?"

"Right there!" She squealed, pointing her own finger at the glass and steel masterpiece.

"That's Avengers Tower," explained Steve. "That's where we're flying too."

"Almost done?" Hydra asked like she had about 30 million times previously. 2-year-olds didn't really have a concept of time, as Stevie had painfully found out.

"Actually, we're done right now." Steve grinned and held onto her tight as Natasha finally landed he Quinjet onto the roof.

"Finally!" Natasha sighed, standing up. She opened the ramp to the quinjet, and before she could say anything, she was interrupted by Nick Fury himself.

"I see you found something." Nick Fury's deep voice boomed, catching the attention of everyone on board.

"Yes, during my search of the base, I found this little girl," Steve reported, gesturing with his shoulders to the tiny girl in his arms.

"What on your face?" Hydra blurred out, staring at Fury. At that moment, it struck Steve that she had never seen someone with an eyepatch before

"Eyepatch." Fury bluntly explained.

"Why you have it?" Hydra questioned.

"That doesn't matter." Fursy sighed, then turned his focus back to Steve. "What information do you have on her?"

"Her name is Hydra, she is 2 years old, and she is the daughter of the lead woman," Steve told him. "I also believe that she may be a descendant of Schmit."

"Really?" Fury interrogated, raising an eyebrow. "And why would she be outside of HYDRA if she was the descendant of their original leader?"

"Ya?" Hydra responded.

"A different Hydra." Steve quickly explained to her. "I'm not sure why, but if we interrogate the members, especially the mother, then we will get an answer."

"Yes." Fury agreed. "You wouldn't happen to have any idea who her father is, would you?"

"No." Steve sighed. "But I'm guessing that it is another member."

"That is a fair guess." Fury acknowledged. "Unfortunately, we're going to need to do some testing on the girl, both medical and comprehensive. So She's going to need to stay with us for a few days. Got any bright ideas on how to handle that?"

Steve paused for a moment. At hearing that she was going to stay here, he got this strange warm feeling inside of him, something he couldn't quite name. He knew he had felt it before, and he could remember the last time he felt it. It was when he had first found out that Bucky was alive after all this time, and there was a chance they could revive what they had. No way Steve wanted to lose this feeling, and perhaps if he kept little Hydra around, then he could figure out what this happy feeling was. He had already cared for her for three and a half hours, and he was able to keep her calm and safe through the entire journey.

"I can take care of her," Steve announced.

Fury rolled his eye and shed "That's What I thought you were going to say. But do you really think you can deal with a 2-year-old?"

"I just did." Steve debated

"3 hours is nothing compared to several days." Fury retorted. "And childcare is one of the most difficult things in the entire world."

"I helped stop an army of aliens from attacking New York, how hard could it be?" Steve shrugged.

"Do you have the resources necessary? She's going to need a bath, food, new clothes, somewhere to sleep, something to entertain her while we let Banner test her, and a whole host of other things. Not to mention your going to need to replace the diseased dish towel." He instigated, glaring at Fuzzy.

"I can get whatever she needs," Steve assured.

"Do you have any Idea what time it is?" Fury asked. "I highly doubt anything will be open at 10:30 at night."

"New York is the city that never sleeps. If anyplace has something that would be open, it could be here."

"You know, I would feel a lot more comfortable if we called in a specialist who actually understands how to work with traumatized children." Fury admitted.

"But as you said, it's very late. If you called someone else in, then it would take time, and wouldn't be getting handed to another new person traumatize her more?" Steve countered.

"Fine." Fury sighed in defeat. "But if I don't like your performance I will call in a specialist."

"You won't need to." Steve grinned. "I'll go over the other details of the mission with you in the morning."

"Before you go," Fury called out, as Steve turned to leave, "Give that little girl a new name. No matter where she ends up, having the name of a terrorist organization isn't good."

"With pleasure." Steve accepted, and walked into Avengers tower, The little girl smiling at him.

* * *

A name. That was wast was on Steve's mind as he took the little girl on the subway, on the way to get her the things she needed. A name. Steve agreed with Fury that she needed a new one but he never had imagined that he would get the honor of choosing one for her. A name. He had to pick quickly, she needed one as soon as possible, but how? How could he choose, out the millions of names in the world, the perfect name for the Little girl who was clinging onto his lap as they rode the subway to the store?

When he first found her, he associated her as a child of HYDRA, a poor girl who was born into a world that no one should ever have to live in. But her inquisitive nature, her bright smile, and the warmth that she made him feel made Steve increasingly associate her with someone else. Another prisoner of HYDRA. Someone else who made him smile and whom he would do anything to make sure they were alright. Bucky.

Bucky, maybe that would be her name. Bucky, however, is just a nickname, his real name was James. Steve wasn't sure what the female form of James was, but when he looked at the little girl's face and imaged with a J-name, something about it just didn't feel right.

Who else would he want to name a child, the most important thing he had ever named, after? Who else had made such an incredible impact, both on himself and in the world? Who could be someone that when she learned about them in history class, she would be proud to say she was named after?

As the subway pulled into the station, the name hit Steve like a bolt of lightning. Peggy. One of the co-founders of S.H.I.E.L.D., one of the bravest people he had ever met, and one of his closest friends. And when he looked at the little girl, the name Peggy fit her like a glove.

"Hey." Steve softly called, while they walked out of the station. Little Peggy had been wide awake when he entered the subway, but like the Quinjet, she was relaxed on the subway. In fact, she was so relaxed she was half asleep in Steve's arms.

"Ya?" Peggy groggily responded, rubbing her eyes with Fuzzy.

"Would you like a new name?" Steve offered.

"Why?" Peggy defensively interrogated.

"Well, were in a new place, a new name would be fun, right?" He frantically replied. "How about the name Peggy?"

"No." Peggy decided, shaking her head. "I don't wike it."

"I know you do, but Fury thinks it would be a good idea to have a different name." Steve divulged while the empty subway halted at every stop, regardless of the fact that nobody else was on board. "Why?" She winced, rubbing her eyes again.

"Because sometimes when people hear Hydra, they think about a mean HYDRA." Steve attempted to explain. "Is there a name you would like?"

"Peggy." She announced.

"Perfect." Steve smiled, slightly sighing. And the second Peggy accepted her new name, the Subway finally let them out at their stop, and they walked off, ready to face whatever challenges may come their way.


	5. Battle of Bedtime

On the 11th highest floor of Stark Tower was the avenger's wing. It was set up like a college dorm, with a long hallway of bedrooms, a laundry room, a common room, and a master kitchen. The wing was created shortly after the attack on New York and was only meant to be a hotel of sorts. However, since S.H.I.E.L.D. dissolved, all the Avengers were living there 24/7 and Steve honestly loved it. Living alone had never suited him, and when he saw all of his friends every day, it almost felt like he was back in the army again, when everything was so much simpler, and he had Bucky.

The common room was the biggest room in the wing. Two walls had large windows that extended from floor ceiling. but with just the push of a button or a quick request of Jarvis, and they would go dark, making perfect use of the 3 sofas that sat in front of the large TV. They would often use this feature for movie nights, or as Natasha called, "Steve's homework." Tony was the only one that didn't live in the Avenger's wing, and he did own the entire building, so Steve considered that fair. Behind the couches was the open kitchen, with appliances so fancy that Steve had been scared of them at first. Now, however, he knew their small quirks, and one of his favorite pastimes was experimenting and creating exquisite dishes for everyone to try at the large oak table in between the cream colored couches and the Kitchen.

The bedrooms were all the same floorplan, one large room, a bed, a nightstand, a couch, and a desk with a computer. Thankfully, they each had their own private bathroom attached to their room. As for the color of the walls, Tony was nice enough to let everyone choose what color they wanted. Well more like one day, Natasha decided to paint her walls back, and after ferocious back and forth in the basement gym, Tony let the rest of them choose their own colors as well. Steve had chosen a pretty sky blue, giving the room a peaceful feel.

He had out his bed in the upper right corner of the rectangular room. It was a light birch frame, with a solid sapphire computer. Right next to be the bed was a matching birch nightstand, with a signal clock and a stack of books. In Front of it was a white couch, with coordinating sapphire pillows. Decorating the walls were occasional windows, and pictures of his parents, Bucky, and Peggy Carter. On the upper lefthand corner was his desk. It was a replica of one from when he lived with Bucky. He had been in the future for two years now, but It still felt strange whenever someone called it vintage. In the draws of the desk, he held his drawing supplies, random papers, and the occasional bag of chips and Girl Scout cookies that he didn't want the other Avengers to steal. On top was his computer, and right next to it, was a floor to ceiling bookshelf. While he was given the option to have the 30 computer setup that everyone else in the tower loved, he opted for just one simple laptop. Just one computer was confusing, so the idea of multiple freaked him out.

"Are you ready to go to sleep?" Steve softly suggested. It was an hour till midnight, and his body was screaming for the sleep. Peggy however, was fully awake. Steve had gotten in and out of store relatively quickly, and he gave the credit to the wonderful employee who helped him out. She looked to be a college student, with her green side-shaved hair and multiple ear piercings. She told him that she had a little brother, and she was extremely helpful when getting Peggy the correct sized pajamas and clothes, along with a few toys. Peggy's favorite purchase was a pink stuffed Elephant named Elly. Elly was the length of Steve's forearm and was a pastel pink. Elly was also very soft, witch Peggy had tested in the store by sticking her face into Elly's torso.

"Fuzzy Likes Elly!" She chatted and made her Elly and "Fuzzy" chat as well. She was sitting in the center of his bed, with him beside her.

"I'm glad they like each other, did you like your bath?" Steve yawned.

"Not that much." She pouted. "Not that much" would be an understatement, she had thrashed around so much that Steve was just as wet as her. "Where your star go?" She inquired, slightly bouncing on the bed as she poked at his chest again.

"The star is on my uniform." He explained to her, his eyelids weighted down like sandbags. "And I changed into other clothes. You changed too." He pointed out.

"Yeah! I have a puppy!" Peggy cheered, hugging herself. After the bath, Steve had changed her into a pair of lilac footed pajamas. On the stomach was a patch of lavender, with the face of a cartoon puppy, complete with floppy ears that Peggy could fidget with and a tail on the back.

"You do have a puppy." Steve acknowledged and took a book from his nightstand. The employee at the store called it a "board book". Steve has never before seen such a small book or one with such stiff pages. He didn't understand why little kids could just have normal books, but that title of this one was "The Going to Bed Book", so it seemed like it would be perfect.

"You have a book?" Peggy gasped, completely taken aback.

"Yes, I do." Steve slightly chuckled. "Now it's time to read it."

"Only Mama reads book." She frankly told him.

"What kinds of books does she read?" Steve wondered. While in the store, he had found the best way to get information out of Peggy regarding her life in the fake HYDRA base was to only ask her questions when she brought it up.

"A big book." Peggy shrugged. "Only 1 dough."

"It's alright." Steve comforted, patting her on the back, and pulled out the blankets and sheets, allowing her to crawl in.

"Can you even read?" She questioned, adjusting the pillows, Fuzzy, Elly, and the blankets, creating a little nest.

"Yes." Steve laughed. "Why did you think I couldn't read?"

"Only Mama read," Peggy explained, yawning as he head reached the pillow. "You're not Mama."

"Let's read," Steve announced, lay down next to her, and opened the book. "The going to bed book" he read.

"Dat's a new book," Peggy commented. "Are you sure you can read?"

"Hey, Peggy, why don't you try listening to it?" Steve suggested, in the nicest tone he could.

"Ok." Peggy nodded.

"The sun has set, not long ago-". Steve started to read. As the little animals got ready to go to sleep on their boat, Steve could feel Peggy snuggle into his side.

And as he continued the story, colorful page after colorful page, the weight of her head on his arm ignited something inside him. It was the same feeling he had been experiencing all day, and now he finally had the word. Love. It was different than the warmth he felt towards Bucky, but this warmth was definitely love. He loved her inquisitive nature, he loved her radiant smile, he loved how she trusted him with something that only her mother had ever done.

Ever since he had woken up in 2012, he had felt out of place. Everything was different, there was new people, new technology, and 70 years of history to catch up on. He stuck out like a sore thumb, a tragic American hero who could barely cope with the world around him. But when he was taking care of Peggy, everything was alright. Before today, she had never seen a city, she was also learning about the world around her. For the first time, Steve didn't feel behind, he felt honored, honored that he got to undertake the massive task of helping her.

"The moon is high, the sea is deep, they rock and rock and rock to sleep." Steve finished his voice nearly at a whisper. He shifted his gaze back to Peggy, expecting her to have a witty comment, but instead, she was gone!

However, while she was gone, he could still feel the weight of her head, and as his eyes scanned the room, he saw a certain "Diseased dishcloth" and a certain pink elephant floating in mid-air, his first honest reaction was horror.

Not only had he taken on the challenge of caring for a 2-year-old, but this 2-year-old COULD ALSO TURN INVISIBLE!


	6. Battle of Fuzzy

"HELP HELP I STUCK I STUCK I STUCK!" Peggy banshee shrieked, making Steve bolt awake, sitting right up. He had spent the night on the couch, Peggy needed the bed more than he did.

He quickly leaped off the couch, turned on the light, and rushed over to see what the screaming was all about, and when he did, he was stuck in a mass of confusion and shock.

Somehow, Peggy had turned perpendicular to the pillow, had gotten both blankets and the sheet pulled out from the corners and had managed to wrap herself up into a screaming, wiggling burrito.

"How!?" Steve marveled to himself, feeling around the fabric whirlpool trying to locate her in the giant mass.

"HEEEEELP!" She shouted, and following where her head was Steve haphazardly grabbed a stray corner of the top blue blanket and pulled, unraveling the burrito and freeing her.

"Are you ok now?" Steve asked, sitting down on the bed next to her.

Peggy shook her head and sniffled.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Steve replied. "How did you get yourself so tangled up?"

"I hugged my puppy and Fuzzy tangled me in the bed!" She explained.

At hearing the name of the towel, a smiley feeling sprouted in his stomach. On Nick Fury's orders, she had taken her old clothes and thrown them away. He has also instructed him to wait until Peggy was asleep, get Fuzzy out of her grip, and toss it, due to the copious diseases that it must be carrying, but Something told Steve that that was a bad idea. He had tried to wash it in the machine, but his good intentions literally fell apart when he opened the door to the washing machine and realized it had unraveled itself and was now a collection of strings.

"How did Fuzzy tangle you?" Steve wondered, legitimately curious to hear her explanation on how a toy of sorts that literally no longer existed could have trapped her.

"I don't know." Peggy shrugged and reached out for her toys. Elly had exited the burrito with Peggy, making her easy to find, but as her tiny hand reached, it clicked in her brain that Fuzzy was not in fact, where she had left it. Her head snapped from left to right, to the front of her and to the back, and realized her that Fuzzy was gone completely.

Her face went into position first. Here eyes glued themselves shut, her eyebrows formed a pointed mountain, the corners of her lips drooped, and while the upper half of her face scrunched into almost nothing, her mouth opened like a gate, and once the face was complete, the loudest wail Steve has ever head erupted from her mouth.

Steve had heard many loud things in his life. He had grown up in a cramped apartment in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, had served in World War 2, and was an Avenger, but nothing, not even sound of explosives that left his ears ringing, was anything close as horrible as Peggy crying.

"Hey!" Steve tried to comfort, reaching his arm out, but Peggy shoved it away, with more force than he ever expected a Two-year-old to have.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Steve could barely hear it over Peggy, so the door open on its own too reveal Clint.

He was in black and purple plaid pajamas, yet his hair was somehow perfect. Steve was still in the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing the night before, and the second his attempt to wash Fuzzy failed, he collapsed onto the couch in front of the bed where Peggy was sleeping. His hair was a mess, and he didn't really notice until Clint came in.

Clint took one look at Peggy, who was rolling all over the bed in anger, and at Steve who was powerless to help her, and was so shocked that all he could do was sign "WHAT?!"

"Her name is Peggy, She's the daughter of the leader of the fake HYDRA group we took last night, and the dish towel she used as a stuffed animal is in shreds because I tried to wash it!"

"Steve!" Clint sighed and facepalmed. "Why on earth would you tell her that?!"

"I Didn't tell her, she figured it out!" Steve counted, as Peggy hurled Elly across the bed in a fit of rage.

"I WANT FUZZY!" She roared, reminding both of them to pay attention to her.

Clint shook his head at Steve. "Would you like me to help?"

"Be my guest!" Steve accepted, stepping back, not exactly sure how Clint could solve this.

"Hi, my name's Clint, what's wrong?" He gently introduced, kneeling down to make eye contact with her.

Peggy nicely responded by grabbing a pillow and throwing it at his head.

"You must be really upset!" Clint marveled, dodging the pillow. "What's wrong?"

"FUZZY IS GONE!" She explained, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall.

"Is your name Peggy?" Clint asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.

Peggy stuck her face into the bed like an ostrich and screamed something that might have been words, or it could have been a demonic call to the dark dimension to set loose a curse on the world.

"OOOh, That's why!" Clint suddenly exclaimed, clapping his hands in excitement.

"What's why?" Peggy mumbled, still not taking her face out of the bed.

"Have you ever heard of the Fuzzy Fairy?" Clint wondered.

Peggy sat right up. "Wats that?"

Clint grinned and leaned into her. "The fuzzy fairy is a magical lady with wings who's really tiny." He explained and put out his hands. "She's about this big, and do you know what she does?"

Peggy shook her head, and took a deep breath in, getting ready for round two of the hurricane.

"When you become a big kid, The Fuzzy fairy comes, and she gives Fuzzy to a Baby who really needs it." Clint told, his eyes lighting up with excitement as if he was the one who the "Fuzzy Fairy" was visiting. "And in return, she leaves a big kid prize under your pillow! Doesn't that sound cool?!"

"A little." Peggy sniffled and glanced over to where the pillow used to be. "Where the prize go?"

"Hmmm, I'm not sure, why don't we go check in the living room?" Clint suggested tapping his chin.

"Ok." Peggy nodded, still with a tearful look on her face, but no longer inconsolable.

As Clint helped her out of the bed, Steve quickly grabbed Elly and offered it to her. She of course, immediately snatched Elly out of his grasp, and stuck her face in it, in the same way, she had covered her face with fuzzy when he first met her.

"Let's go!" Clint entheastic cheered and began to skip to the main area. Peggy grabbed the corner of the blanket, and dragging it along behind her like a cape and followed Clint. Steve went out behind her, gingerly avoiding the blanket when Clint looked back shot Steve a go-along-with-the-plan-and-act-happy glare, so Steve put a big slime on his face.

As the three of them make their way into the kitchen, Clint kneeled down to talk to Peggy again. "Should we look in a couch first, or the fridge?" He inquired, pointing to each object as he said them.

"Fridge" She echoed, pointing as well.

"Does your Elephant think that's a good idea?" Clint inquired, looking at Elly, who Peggy had clutched to her chest tighter then she had ever before.

Peggy turned her gaze to Elly, who she made nod her head. "Elly says yes." Peggy translated.

"The what are we waiting for?" Cling chuckled and he strolled over to the fridge and opened it.

"WOAH!" Peggy exclaimed, as her eyes went wide, her chin went up, and he jaw fell open. "That's big!" she softly gasped. The double-doored fridge seemed big even to him, so to her, it must be enormous.

"It is." Clint agreed, looking at at the same angle she was. "Do you think you see a good Prize?"

"The tella!" Peggy announced, and her tiny finger pointed all the way up to the giant jar of Nutella.

"The Nutella?" Clint inquired and quickly peeled off the sticker that said "touch this and you die"

"Natasha's Nutella?!" Steve questioned.

"Yeah," Peggy confirmed.

Steve gave Clint a look of Don't-you-remember-the-last-time-someone-ate-Natasha's-nutella, but Clint responded with Its-for-noble-cause-and-I'll-replace-it, before they both nodded and Clint grabbed the Nutella down from the top shelf of the fridge and handed it to her. The smile that crossed her face was bright enough to power the City

"Would you like some now, or later?" Clint asked.

"Now!" Peggy declared.

"How would you like to eat it, on a bagel or on a waffle?" Clint offered. "But eating it off a spoon is a perfectly good option too.

"SPOON!" She Squealed, jumping up and down out of excitement. Steve let out the big sigh of relief, she was back to her old, happy self.

"Perfect!" Clint responded. ; hey steve, would you mind getting her a Spoon?"

"Already on it." Steve grinned, as he rummaged through the silverware drawer to find a spoon that wasn't the size of her face. As he did that, Clint ran back into his room to grab a stack of books. He quickly placed them on a chair, lifted Peggy up, placed her on the book throne, pushed her into the Table, and handed her the Nutella. Steve opened it up for her and handed her the spoon, and the look of pure joy on her face of priceless.

"What? Are? You? Two? Doing? With? My? Nutella? At? This? Hour?" Natasha snarled, creeping out of the pitch black hallway like an angry spirit.

"Steve was an idiot, as usual, so I need the Nutella to calm down the kid. I'm going to replace it I swear!" Clint explained, stepping back towards Peggy and near the air vent in case he needed to make a quick getaway.

"You say that every time Barton, and yet it never happens," Natasha growled giving him and Steve the death glare.

"I'll get you the giant jar! Two giant jars!" Clint stammered, his back hitting the wall, and Natasha making steady progress on him, nostrils flaring, getting prepared to fight.

"By the time anything opens, you will forget." Nat pointed out.

"No, I'll go right now!" Clint promised, getting in position to scale the wall.

"You do realize what time it is, right?" She sighed, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

"Uuu, Jarvis, what time is it?" Clint shakily requested.

"It is 5:37 in the morning, on Sunday, October 19th, 2014, Mr.Barton," Jarvis informed.

"Oh." Clint realized and jumped up to the ceiling, an enraged Natasha demon trialing behind him.

Somehow Peggy didn't notice that A; the fight was about her eating the Nutella or B; that there was even a fight, to begin with, so she went right on eating, getting more Nutella on her face and her clothes than actually in her mouth.

* * *


	7. Battle of a Decision

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that this is a loooooooooong chapter. Like nearly 3k words long. But I feel like it was Necessary to build Peggy and Steve's relationship, to tie up some loose ends, to answer some of the questions you might have. Thank you so much for reading!!!

It had simultaneously been had the hardest and most rewarding 4 days of Steve's life. After the Nutella incident (witch Clint thankfully survived), He had taken her to the lab in the Tower so Bruce could perform all the necessary tests. And while Peggy was extremely intrigued by the robotics lab that was on the way to the medical facility, the second she saw the medical examination bed, she burst out into a tantrum that was unprecedented in how upset she was. It took Steve an hour to calm her down, and while Cling offered to help, Fury was in the room, so Steve had to decline. He had to prove to Fury that he could handle her.

The medical-phobia phobia, however, was far over-powered by all the amazing experiences he had with her. In-between tests on Sunday, he had broken out all the toys he had bought her. She has especially loved the small set of blocks eh had gotten her. At first, Steve had just watched her play, but after she had stacked 10 of them into a simple tower, Steve accidentally knocked over the tower with his foot when he went to grab a glass of water. He braces himself for tears must instead, out her mouth came laughter! It started as a tiny giggle, but then rapidly engulfed her entire body in a frenzy of laughter and smiles. It sounded like the chiming church bells Steve could remember hearing every Sunday morning, and seeing her so happy made him smile as well. He couldn't explain exactly why, but seeing her so happy made him happy too.

"Again!" she squealed, and quickly set up the tower again. Steve tentatively knocked down the tower again, and it sent her into another fit of pure laughter. They continued their game for 40 minutes and eventually upgraded to building New York City out of blocks and having Elly be a big monster to knock it over.

Monday afternoon, while he was making her lunch, Steve told Peggy to play on the couch while he made her a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich. He had learned the hard way that if he didn't give her food with Nutella, then she would refuse to eat it. It wasn't the healthiest option, but at least she was eating at all. However, the second he was done cutting it into four triangles (she was very particular that if it was a sandwich, it had to be 4 triangles), he spun around to let her know, but she had not just left the couch, but had left the living room completely. Thankfully, when he went looking for her, she was in his room. She had taken all of the books off of the bottom shelf, and was an island in an ocean of pages, going through each book and flipping the pages as if she was reading herself. Her interest in books was so adorable that Steve declared an improv book picnic, where he would read a book to her while she ate her sandwich. She even insisted on reading a few books to him, and her attempts to tell a story (that had nothing to do with the words on the page) made him melt in all the cuteness.

Tuesday was the much-appreciated end of the physical examinations, but the beginning of the comprehensive ones. There were little flip books that had different cartoon people on them, or shapes or animals. The first test was that she was shown a cartoon picture of something, and she had to properly identify what shape it was. It went great, she immediately told Br. Banner, Fury, Steve, and everyone else in the room that the Balloon was a circle, the cardboard box was a square, the cell phone was a rectangle, and a slice of cake was a triangle. Next, however, she was shown different pictures and had to identify what they were. She correctly got all of them, from a cow to a cookie, to a computer to a car, to a family. But when Bruce asked her who each person in the room was, her answers were still correct, but hilarious. Dr.Banner was "The doctor", Fury was "Furry", and when asked who Steve was, she identified him as "Boy mama"

"Why is he boy mama?" Bruce clarified, trying to hold back his astonishment and laughter.

"He does all the stuff Mama does and he's a boy," Peggy explained, her tone of voice 100% sure, and as if she was shocked that anyone couldn't clearly see that Steve was boy mama.

"Did you know that there is another word for that?" Bruce inquired, and her eyes light right up.

"There is?!" she gasped.

"Yes, it's called a Dad." Bruce smiled. "Some Kids even call their Dads' Daddy."

"His name is Steve Rogers." fury piped up, rolling his eyes.

"No." Peggy glared. "His name is Daddy."

"If you say so." Steve chuckled, as Fury sighed.

Now, it was Wednesday afternoon, and all of the tests were finally over. It was a strange feeling, on one hand, Steve was revealed they were over, but on the other, Steve was only supposed to care for her until the tests were done. And now that they were, he had absolutely no clue what was going to happen to her. The thought of her being away from him made him sick to his stomach, what if something happened to her when he wasn't there to help?

Peggy however, was paying absolutely no attention to Steve's thoughts of panic and indecision. The two of them were in one of the offices, waiting for Fury to come with the test results. Staring out the window at New York City had gotten boring to Peggy, so Steve had broken out a sketchbook and some crayons.

They were still sitting next to the giant windows that showed the city, and as the case always seemed to be with Peggy, she had to have an entire set up to even begin thinking about doing the activity. She and Steve were sitting across from each other, their right sides facing the windows. In between, them was the crayons, and they each had a piece of paper attached to a clipboard on their laps. Elly was sitting next to Peggy, and at her request, Steve had sent up a paper and crayons for Elly too. When dealing with children, stuffed animals were to treated as real people with feelings, needs, and desires, or at least that's what Steve had learned over the past few days. It was insane, to think that he had only met Peggy 5 days ago. His time with her both felt like both an eternity yet no time at all.

"What are you drawing?" Steve inquired, glancing over at her paper. He was drawing an elaborate portrait of her coloring, well as elaborate as he could get with crayons. Thankfully, when in the store, he had grabbed the 100 pack of crayons, so he had plenty of color options. Her sugar cookie colored hair was in high pigtails, tied up with lilac hair bows. Her long-sleeve shirt was white, but it had a rainbow polka dot pattern, with each row of dots being a different color. Sunlight wafted through the windows, highlighting her deep navy jeans that perfectly brought out the blue in her eyes.Her lap was full of crayons, and even though she could barely hold the crayon correctly, her little tongue was stuck out of her mouth in concentration, and her furrowed eyebrows read 'I'll finish this drawing if its the last thing I'll do!'. Her shoes were some of the tiniest Steve had ever seen and were sneakers that perfectly matched her lilac ribbons.

"Elly, a Hoppity, flutterflies, the big buildings and tella" She rapidity explained.

"Really? That sounds like a lot." Steve commented, seeing the blobs of color and scribbles that covered her paper.

"It is." She agreed. "What are you drawing?" She echoed, standing up, causing all the crayons on her lap to cascade into a rainbow waterfall. "That's me!" She gasped, toddling over to his side and peeking at his paper.

"That is you." He confirmed with a chuckle.

"I gonna draw you!" She announced and bolted back to her crayon station. "I need another paper."

"Why don't you just flip over the one you have now and draw on the back?" Steve suggested and went to flip the paper over for her, but she snatched it before he could get to it.

"No, it has drawn on it." She huffed, 100% done with Steve's common sense agenda.

"Flip it over, and it won't," Steve told her, and after a very heavy sigh, she compiled.

"There no drawing!" She exclaimed, picked up a blue crayon, and drew some scribbles. "I done!" She announced and showed the drawing to him

"Is that me?" Steve clarified, pointing to the blue blob.

"Yes," Peggy confirmed.

Steve held the two drawings up next to each other. While Peggy's was only one color, and you couldn't tell it was him, it warmed his heart more than anything had in the past two years.

"Can I keep it here?" He asked. If Fury made Peggy leave, and go somewhere where he couldn't see her again, he wanted a small piece of her to remind him of the good times.

"Sure!" Peggy agreed and shoved it at him. "Here you go!"

Before Steve could thank her for her wonderful drawing, the door swung open, and Fury stored in, a full folder of papers in his hand.

"Good Morning Rogers." He obligatory greed, and at down at the chocolate desk. To the right of Steve and Peggy were two black cushioned chairs, and in front of these was the desk.

"Hey Peggy, I'm going to talk to Fury, can you say here? Steve instructed.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm gonna color another one." She announced and grabbed the sketchbook.

"Good morning Director Fury." Steve finally replied, after making sure she was set up.

"Has she given you much trouble over the past few days?" Fury wondered, glancing at her.

"Not at all. In fact, it's been fun, taking care of her." Steve smiled before his face fell. Taking care of Peggy was one of the most fun things she had ever done, but now it was time for serious business. "What are the results?"

"While Banner was checking on Peggy, I had Agent Hill work on the other members of the HYDRA cult." Nick first began, sitting straight up in his hair, his hands clasped on his desk. "From what information we gathered, it started with her mother, Elsa Liesel Schmidt."

Steve grinned at hearing Peggy's mother's name, knowing he was correct when he first saw her.

"As you guessed, she is the descendant of Johann Schmidt, who you personally helped take down." Fury glared, and Steve quickly wiped the smile off his face. "Without us noticing, Schmidt somehow had a son, and that son is Peggy's grandfather. As I'm sure you could tell from just being in the same room as Elsa, she has the mental stability of a china cabinet in an earthquake. Being the Granddaughter of Johann Schmidt himself, she was supposed to take over HYDRA When Pierce died, but about 3 years ago, someone had the bright idea to have her get pregnant."

"Do you know who the father is?" Steve requested.

"Yes, and I will get to that, once you give me the time to speak" Fury sighed. "After Peggy was born, Elsa's mental health declined rapidly. According to her, Pierce kicked her out for having a girl, so she along with 9 other HYDRA members left and went to the abandoned factory. Their plan was to wait until Peggy was old enough, then storm HYDRA and take it by a coup."

"Even though Elsa was already in line for the Leadership?" Steve confirmed, utterly confused.

"Yes. In the 9 that accompanied her were her 2 Doctors, and the other 7 were just extremists who didn't like the way Pierce ran things." Fury continued. "The Doctors heavily experimented on Peggy from when she was a year old, and form those experiments, along with being super soldier, is what we believe gives Peggy her powers. So far, all she can turn invisible is herself and anything her skin touches. Other than that, and her super soldier genes, she's most healthy, and on track for development. Her only real problem is slight malnutrition, but that can easily be fixed."

Steve quickly glanced back, to make sure Peggy was still occupied by the crayons and was still visible. She was to bring and was currently helping Elly color some pink scribbles.

"?" Steve questioned. "Wouldn't she be only , because Schmidt was her great-grandfather?"

"I was about to tell you, but apparently you don't want me to finish a single thought I say." Fury growled.

"That's not what I meant to imply," Steve argued. "Would you just continue?"

"Because of her severe mental problems, and her criminal record, and the fact that she decided to cyanide herself this morning, Elsa is no longer available to take care of her daughter. But that makes everything so great for us because now we get the fun job of dealing with her." Fury told Steve, with a splash of sarcasm.

"What's going to happen to her?" Steve asked. It was the one thing that had been on his mind the most this morning. While it was interesting to hear her history, and a relief to know she was medically alright, it didn't change the fact that just her imagining her leave made his heart felt like it was tearing into pieces.

"Before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, we would have sent her off with an Agent who was trained to handle an invisible toddler and everything would be fine. Now though, we're all we got, and she has no place to go. Any suggestions?" Fury offered.

Steve weighed his options. Fury would want to outsource Peggy, to have her go away with someone that was "properly trained" to handle her. However, there were some things you couldn't learn in a class. And was there really a class for dealing with Peggy's challenges specifically? In less than a week, her life had completely turned upside down, she had gone from a sheltered bubble to a bustling city with strangers and more strange things that she could ever imagine. Had anyone else ever handled that? At that exact moment, the idea hit Steve like a train. What if he adopted Peggy? These past 4 days had been far and away some of the best in his life, and he had come to realize that he loved her more than he had ever loved anything before. He had re-named her, taken care of he, and he understood what it was like to have everything change in a second. But would Fury let him? He was in charge of Peggy's case, and what if he decided that it was more important for Steve to be an Avenger than to take care of this little angel?

"I can take care of her." Steve decided. He had to, he had no choice. Ever since he had awoken from the ice, he had felt without a purpose. Sure he was an Avenger, but with S.H.I.E.L.D collapsed, it didn't feel like much of a purpose. And even before the collapse, Avengers had always seemed like a temporary job, it didn't seem to be his true purpose in life. But now he knew, the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He job in life had to be to take care of her, to be a father to her in a way that would nurture her in a warm environment to help her become the best person she could be.

"You know this isn't a temporary position, Rogers." Fury checked. "If you do this, you're stuck for life."

"I wouldn't call it stuck, I would call it blessed." Steve countered, unable to hide his ever-growing smile.

Fury rolled his eye and sighed deeper than Steve had ever heard on a human. "I don't like this, but I can't tell you no."

"Thank you!" Steve exclaimed, wanting nothing more than to jump out of excitement. Fireworks were exploding inside of him, shooting out colors of love and compassion and pure joy that Fury said yes, and Peggy was going to officially be his daughter!

"You're probably wondering why I'm not fighting you on this." Fury guessed.

"Yes, actually, not that you mention it." Steve agreed, out of curiosity.

"Elsa was the only woman in the cult, but none of the 9 members were paternal matches for Peggy. Out of sheer curiosity, we searched for matches in the old S.H.I.E.L.D. database. And we did find a father." Fury informed.

"Who?" Steve questioned, so curious and excited he was barely able to sit.

"From what little information we have, Elsa was a master manipulator, and somehow talked Pierce into letting her have a child with the goddam Winter Soldier." Fury divulged.

Steve's jaw fell open in shock.


End file.
